Charleville, Wyandra, Cunamulla, Enngonia, Bourke

 Heavy rain was forecast so we had to get off our earth bank camp on the riverside in Mitchell. Before leaving we decided to drive out to the Kenniff Monument at Arrest Creek. The monument is a memorial to all the police killed by bushrangers. The Kenniff Brothers were arrested in 1902 and were, according to the State Library of Queensland, Australia's last two bushrangers. There is nothing else at Arrest Creek but the sculpture is cool. 

The Warrego Highway took us through Morven to Charleville, it is a bit of a bouncy road in parts but otherwise easy driving in a straight line west. We checked out the caravan park in town but it looked very ordinary and did not get good reviews so we plumped for Red Lizard Campground 7kms outside Charleville. Red Lizard is really a caravan park with all the amenities you would expect but laid out like a bush camp, all red dirt (gravelly enough to cope with wet weather) and corrugated iron buildings. The showers were huge and hot, all in all a great place to ride out the expected bad weather.

 The promised rain arrived and the temperature was 10°C lower than the previous day so it seemed like a good time to visit the Cosmos Centre at the airport. Charleville promotes itself as the town of cosmos and bilbies, we couldn't guarantee ticking a bilby off our list while in the town but we could make sure we saw the cosmos bit. After popping in for a look at the excellent and free Flying Doctors exhibition which is also at the airport we got to the Cosmos Centre which was great. The weather didn't allow for all the usual sun and stargazing activities but we watched a movie in the planetarium instead. There were three movie options and the other people there had already chosen to see the one about telescopes, the children's movie about cartoon characters visiting the planets would have been more suitable for my level of understanding of all things space but Ian enjoyed the one we saw. The exhibits and information section was free and there were some really neat things in the gift shop. 

 The next morning was very misty but no rain and I managed to get a blurry picture of a Red Capped Robin through the window of the van. We drove in to check out the town, which was pretty large, and visited the Historic House Museum. The museum was one of the better ones with helpful, knowledgeable volunteers and we rounded off our visit with a stop at the cafe opposite which was incredibly busy. We then drove back to the airport to visit the WW11 Secret Bunker. The tag along tour ($30 each) was fully booked so we just looked around the centre ($10), which was great! In 1942 Charleville became an American Airbase and there were some good stories about how American Servicemen found Australian Outback life with excellent interactive displays. 

The Red Lizard Campground was not the sort of place that chases campers out at 10am so it was closer to 11 when we hit the road. We were starting to head south now and expected to take about another week to get home visiting some towns we had not been to before. With that in mind we picked Cunamulla as the next destination and stopped in Wyandra for a coffee and scones on the way. Wyandra is a tiny town but the cafe/post office is quite celebrated, very quirky with a shop full of all kinds of tat and a camping area out the back. The cafe service was a bit chaotic but we got fed in the end and got back on the long, rather boring road where all there was to look at were emus and goats until suddenly a procession of amazingly decked out cars charged past in the opposite direction. It was The Shitbox Rally! 

 Hundreds of cars take part in the rally each year raising money for Cancer research. This year the route was from Mildura to Townsville and there are restrictions on the age and state of vehicles taking part because they have to qualify as shitboxes. Many fall by the wayside and have to carry on in the support vehicles but it looks like a huge amount of fun.
 The cars were just setting off after a stop in Cunamulla and as we pulled in to the town there were still a few stragglers heading for their cars, some wrapped in togas and others dressed as Mexicans.

 Cunamulla looked pretty ordinary but we had read good things about Warego Riverside Caravan Park so we ignored the lack of delights in the town and headed there. A couple of kms outside town it is indeed beautiful. We went for the unpowered bush camping option on the riverbank at $38, the sites were big and all had fire pits and we were allowed to take our pick. Lots of bird life and music in the camp kitchen at 4.30. This was the first Happy Hour we had attended on the whole trip, we usually avoid the kind of places where they happen, but this was ok and the music duo were pleasantly entertaining even if the music was a bit too Country and Western for our taste. 

 We went into Cunamulla for supplies in the morning and I take back all I said about it. The town centre was actually rather nice and in the centre sits The Cunamulla Big Fella, a statue of a song by Slim Dusty. I picked up some bits in a small IGA with a very grumpy cashier before continuing south on the boring emu and goat road into NSW and Enngonia. There is not much in Enngonia apart from the visiting mobile dentist and the Oasis Hotel which has a huge, flat area out the back for campers. It is free with hot showers and toilets in a little garden with dogs, goats and calves wandering about and the expectation is that campers will at least have a drink, hopefully a meal in the pub. We did both of course, and the food was very good.

 Next morning was bright and sunny as we set off again in the direction of Bourke. I like Bourke, it sits on the banks of the Darling River with beautiful parkland all around. The Back of Bourke visitor centre has an excellent cafe where we sat watching birds including Red Tailed Black Cockatoos before setting off for the last few days of our winter trip.